Many people today just want the cheapest insurance they can find. In today’s tough economic times it seems like common sense to go for the cheapest insurance you can find. But what most people don’t realize is that for a few dollars a month, or the price of a small dinner at McDonalds you can add thousands of dollars worth of coverage to your auto, home, and business policies. I am in no way exaggerating when I say that for about 2.00$ a month a person can add about 700,000$ of coverage to their home. It may be cheaper to not pay the extra two bucks, but is it worth it?

When thinking about purchasing insurance most people first think of the cost. While this is very important, an equally important factor should be value. Are you getting the best “bang for your buck?” In Oklahoma, where I live the state minimum coverage for an auto policy is 25/50/25. 25,000 per accident coverage if you get into an accident. That means that you are fairly safe as long as you get into an accident with one car worth less than 25,000$ dollar! If you get into an accident with a car worth more than that, you will have to pay out of pocket for the rest of the expenses. This all means you can’t hit a Mercedes or BMW, but maybe a Honda or Chevy.

The same applies to a home policy. You can get the minimum coverage, but it won’t protect you as well as if you spent those few extra dollars a month and got better coverage. The reality is that it cost on average about 100$ per square foot to repair a home if something catastrophic like a hurricane, fire, or tornado happens. If you purchase the the minimum coverage you will receive about 75$ per square foot should that disaster happen. So you would have to pay about 25$ for every square foot of your house if you need to repair it. I don’t know about you, but I’ll sacrifice the few dollars a month to be fully covered.

In the future, when you’re looking for a good place to find insurance, think about price, but think about value as well.